China launches second Olympic weather satellite

A second Olympic weather forecasting satellite, the Fengyun-3 (FY-3), is launched on a Long March-4C carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province, May 27, 2008. The 2,295-kilogram satellite will provide accurate and timely information about weather changes to facilitate more precise weather forecasts during the Beijing Olympic Games. (Photo credit: Xinhua)

TAIYUAN, May 27 (Xinhua) -- China launched a second Olympic weather forecasting satellite, the Fengyun-3 (FY-3), Tuesday morning.

The satellite was launched on a Long March-4C carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province at 11:02 a.m. (Beijing Time).

It entered the preset orbit 27 minutes later.

Gao Huoshan, general director of the FY-3 research team, said the satellite would send back images with the highest spatial resolution of 250 meters and its temperature sensitivity would reach 0.1 degree Fahrenheit. Both indices were close to the most advanced level of similar satellites in the world.

The highest spatial resolution of existing satellites in China had been 1.1 kilometers, according to Gao.

A second Olympic weather forecasting satellite, the Fengyun-3 (FY-3), is launched on a Long March-4C carrier rocket from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in northern Shanxi Province, May 27, 2008. (Photo credit: Xinhua)